Saturday, February 27, 2010

I've still been searching for the perfect carrier. Now that Cora's 20 lbs, she's really too heavy for long periods in a sling, the moby, and the baby bjorn. We've tried (and returned) so many carriers in this hunt for one that's comfortable for baby and both parents. My latest trial runs have been with the kokopax and the beco carriers. I had trouble finding any objective reviews of the kokopax when I was considering it, so I figured I'd share my thoughts here.

The kokopax is a frame carrier in great prints, which makes it look less like hiking gear than most other frame carriers. It's pretty comfortable once you get it on, but that's not easy if you're alone. We really wanted to like this one, but there were just too many things working against it: not washable, bulky when not in use, puts Cora at the perfect height for hair-pulling (not a problem for Dad!), and the difficulty lifting it and baby onto your back. Luckily, I was able to buy it with return insurance, so sending it back should be easy.

And, while not perfect, I think I have found a carrier that I really like. The beco is similar to the ergo, but with a better fit for E and me. It can be used as a front carrier and it's easy to slide a bigger baby around to wear on your back. It comes in nice prints, too. I feel like I can finally get things done around the house again--vacuuming, doing dishes, straightening up--and Cora's happy, too!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

When my friend Kris asked me to make her a sling for her baby-on-the-way, I was sooo excited. It just made me so happy that she wanted to try something that I truly believe in. I hope that she'll enjoy wearing her baby as much as I did (and do) with Cora! Saturday was her baby shower, and I gave her the sling, along with a few more goodies--a nursing cover and some burp cloths--made from leftover fabric.

BUT I had already wrapped it when I thought to take photos. (Why does that always happen?) Instead of undoing it all, I just pulled out the burp cloths that I trimmed in the fabrics she chose. She's having a boy, and his nickname is Cleatus (the fetus). I can't wait to find out his real name! Only a few more weeks.:)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A few posts back, I mentioned that I had registered justlikesew.com for my blog. I realized recently that after making the move, some people might not be getting the feed if they're subscribed to the old blogger site. I hope you'll keep following me over at the new address, and there's a cool little gadget in my sidebar to help you update your subscription. Thank you for reading!

Monday, February 15, 2010

So after a Valentines Day kitchen disaster (think cutting board colliding with head, giant bottle of olive oil shattering on counter), I'm looking up a bunch of recipes that were torn out of magazines and stored in our recipe notebook (which soaked up some of that oil). A couple of the oil-sopped recipes have become recent favorites, so I thought I'd share. Until a few weeks ago, both of these had been waiting in the stack of "recipes to try" forever. One is from Cooking Light, October, 2000--I mean, did I even cook back then?

We have a tradition of making cheese fondue for Valentines Day, but since Cora and I are on a low-dairy diet, we made sweet and spicy peanut fondue with tofu and pineapple cubes and blanched broccoli, carrots and green beans. It was too salty the first time we made it, so we cut back the soy sauce and hoisin sauce a bit from the original recipe. The photo above is today's lunch of leftovers--yum.

For a quick lunch, I've been enjoying creamy tortilla soup. I think I would call this avocado soup instead because that's what makes it creamy. As much as I love avocado, I had never eaten it warm, but this is tasty and satisfying, and it's easily halved for a smaller portion. E and I laughed at the recipe's suggestion to save time by using corn chips instead of making your own tortilla chips. Of course! I'm actually glad that I had to search for this recipe because I have several recipes that came from the same book, and I think I'll get Quick-fix Vegetarian from the library again now that I know the title.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

This weekend, some friends invited us over for lunch and a baby photo session. Audra and Patrick have a baby about Cora's age, and Audra takes the most amazing photos of him. It doesn't hurt that he's super cute, but she has the best ideas for poses, props, and locations. So she let us take advantage of some of the set-ups she had come up with. The photo in my last post was from that day, and so are these. We had so much fun, mostly because Cora is not one to sit still for the camera! Oh, well. We still got some cute shots. I should have taken some photos of lunch. We're still talking about how good the food was!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

This girl is having some trouble sleeping. Her grandmothers are great at getting her to nap, but some days it takes me forever to get her to sleep. Maybe she just wants to stay awake to have more fun with her mama!:)

It seems to relax her when I sing 'Hush little baby', but after going through all the lines about 14 times, I get bored with the original words and start to change it up a little. Problem is, I'm no good at making up rhymes. So I stick with changes like 'Mama's gonna buy you a diamond sapphire ring/dog named Rover Clover.' I even looked up alternative lyrics, and found some that I might incorporate. Any other suggestions of rhyming lines that would be more interesting to sing? I need help!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Cora doesn't know what to think about the new rail covers for her crib. They sure aren't as satisfying to chew on.

But I don't think she's too unhappy with them. The covers are simple pads with two layers of cotton batting, one cut narrow just to run down the middle of the pad (just because I'm cheap). I secured the first one with heavy duty snaps, which look so professional, but then I got all paranoid about the little pieces coming apart, so the other three are held on with velcro. And the fabrics coordinate with the ones in her room, in case she and her crib ever move back in there.:) I'm in no hurry.

We didn't buy a crib bedding set, but I wonder if the for-looks-only bumpers (which they recommend against using) could be repurposed into rail covers. If you already have them, that might be an easy and pretty way to protect the crib from tiny teeth.